City Hall, Halla na Cathrach, Hôtel de Ville
The city halls in Dublin and Toronto are very different architecturally. Politically and culturally, and what actually happens inside, I don’t know.
City Hall, Dublin is Georgian, finished in 1769. It’s a large, serious, grey stone building, with imposing pillars and other architectural features I couldn’t name. The building was built to be the Royal Exchange, “a meeting place for Dublin’s businessmen, where they could buy and sell goods and trade bills of exchange,” as Wikipedia puts it. It became the city hall in 1852 and has kept on ever since through all of the changes in Irish politics.
Toronto City Hall is a modernist building opened in 1965, and it’s one of this city’s most famous landmarks. It and the CN Tower are probably the two buildings here that are recognized all over the world. What we now call Old City Hall is across the street to the east and is now a courthouse. It’s a beautiful Victorian building. Out in front of Toronto City Hall is Nathan Phillips Square, a popular place festivals, protests, New Year’s Eve parties, and celebrations when The Team wins The Big Game.
Dublin City Hall
Toronto City Hall